Obaseki Left N200bn Contract Debts, Says Assets Verification Cmte

The immediate-past administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki left a debt burden of about N200 billion as outstanding commitments to contractors who were only paid mobilisation fee for projects in Edo State.

Chairman of the Assets Verification Committee constituted to investigate some activities of the previous administration, Dr. Ernest Afolabi-Umakhihe made this known during a press conference in Benin City.

Afolabi-Umakhihe however, noted that the Okpebholo-led administration cannot deny Edo people the opportunity of good road networks especially during this dry season, hence the need for government to quickly approve some of the ongoing road projects.

“There are huge outstanding commitments in respect of road infrastructure. No matter how indecent some of our findings are, the government has to explore the dry season to make an appreciable intervention in road construction.

“Most of the ongoing projects were awarded during the year 2024 and that leaves the new government with a huge burden amounting to about N200 billion being outstanding commitments to contractors who were only given mobilisation which in some cases were paid back to government officials as disclosed by some contractors”, he said.

The Chairman said there was also non-adherence to the Edo State Public Procurement Law in the award of major contracts, which led to several dubious variations of contract sums.

He added that in some cases, the variations were higher than the initial contract sum.

“The transaction on the Radisson Hotel project leaves so much to be desired. Whilst the project was initiated by the State Government by sourcing over N17.5b from the Stock Market and an initial payment of N2 billion for acquisition of land, it is noted that just before the exit of the immediate past administration, the ownership had changed, leaving Edo State, the core investor with 20% ownership.

“The Museum of West Africa Arts-MOWAA is captured as an independent private trust sitting on government land. The Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism has minimal supervision on the project. Till date, Edo State has no equity stake in MOWAA even though the State had spent N3.8bn as contribution.

“EDSG committing to paying over N5bn for cyber security software license for the EdoGov platform for just three years starting from 2023 to 2025. Out of this sum, N1.7b has already been paid by the immediate past government. These are just some of the snippets of what we have unraveled.”

He added that the committee, on resumption on January 6, 2025, will be looking at other critical sectors of the State such as the housing sector, education (SUBEB and EDOBEST), Ministry of Environment, College of Health Sciences and Technology, College of Nursing Sciences, Ministry of Health, all Agricultural projects.

Afolabi-Umakhihe said other areas of concern to the committee upon resumption will include grants from donor agencies, Edo Oil Palm Project, EDSOGPADEC, MOWAA, Edo Electrification Agency, sale of shares in BUA Cement, the Modular Refinery, among others.